George Bridgetower

George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (11 October 1778–29 February 1860)[1] was an Afro-European born in Poland. He grew to be a virtuosoviolinist, living in England for much of his life. He was born in Biała Podlaska in Galicia, where his father worked for Hieronim Wincenty Radziwiłł, in 1778. He was baptised Hieronimo Hyppolito de Augusto on 11 October 1778.[2]

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His father, John Frederick Bridgetower, was probably a West Indian (possibly Barbadian) servant of the Hungarian Prince Esterházy (Joseph Haydn's patron), although he also claimed to be an African prince. His mother was from Germany, and was probably a domestic servant in the household of Sophie von Thurn und Taxis. He moved to London at an early age and was performing at the Drury Lane Theatre by the age of ten.[3]

He was given leave to visit his mother and brother (a cellist) in Dresden in 1802, giving concerts there. He visited Vienna later in 1803, where he performed with Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was impressed, and dedicated his great Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major (Op.47) to Bridgetower, with the goodheartedly mocking dedication Sonata per un mulattico lunatico. Barely finished, the piece received its first public performance at the Augarten Theatre on 24 May 1803, with Beethoven on pianoforte and Bridgetower on violin. Bridgetower had to read the violin part of the second movement from Beethoven's copy, over his shoulder. He made a slight amendment to his part, which Beethoven gratefully accepted, jumping up to say "Noch einmal, mein lieber Bursch!" ("Once more, my dear fellow!"). Beethoven also presented Bridgetower with his tuning fork, now held by the British Library. The pair fell out soon afterwards, Bridgetower having insulted a woman who turned out to be Beethoven's friend; Beethoven broke off all relations with Bridgetower and changed the dedication of the new violin sonata to the violin virtuoso Rudolphe Kreutzer, who never played it, saying that it had already been performed once and was too difficult — the piece is now known as the Kreutzer Sonata. The Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Rita Dove dramatized the relationship between Beethoven and Bridgetower in the book-length lyric narrative Sonata Mulattica.

Bridgetower's own compositions include Diatonica armonica for piano, published in London in 1812 and Henry: A ballad, for medium voice and piano, also published in London. A list of his compositions may be found in Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, Fall 1990, in an article by Dominique-Rene de Lerma.

Bridgetower appears as a character in the 1994 film Immortal Beloved, and is shown playing the Kreutzer Sonata while Beethoven watches. The character of Bridgetower was played by violinist Everton Nelson, and in the movie described as being of African heritage.

A British film, A Mulatto Song, directed by Topher Campbell, was released in 1996. The cast included Colin McFarlane as Frederick DeAugust (Bridgetower’s father), Cole Mejias as the young Bridgetower, and Everton Nelson as the adult Bridgetower.[5]